


When the Night Settles In

by themoonandmargot



Series: Firewatch AU [2]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, Firewatch au, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, rhett is a lil pining baby, something i pumped out at midnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 01:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14124960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonandmargot/pseuds/themoonandmargot
Summary: Nights like these make Rhett feel like he's the only person on Earth. Luckily, Link is just one button away.





	When the Night Settles In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [matrimus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/matrimus/gifts).



> It's been over a year since I've done anything with the Firewatch AU, but thanks to Matrimus, I found the inspiration to write this little fic. Hope you guys like it :>

Rhett grips the radio in his clammy hand and waits for one minute, two. Even with his eyes bulging open, he can’t register the outline of anything in his inky lookout save for the red numbers of his clock -- 2:32.  
  
_It’s 2:32 in the morning and I’m all alone_ , Rhett despairs, but the cold metal of the handheld radio keeps his breathing steady, at least for the meantime. He remembers Link’s voice, the only voice he's heard since the start of summer: slurred when tired, stuttering when cautious, high and tinkly when excited. It’s Link’s voice that Rhett needs to hear right this moment, but can’t, for lots of reasons. One of them being 2:32.  
  
Then the images come swarming back into his head, and Rhett has to hold down the push-to-talk button just to keep himself from tearing up. He inhales, broken, before speaking into the receiver. “Link.”  
  
Rhett contorts his face in agony, hating how weak he sounds amidst the silence of the forest. But he decides he hates this feeling more than sounding weak. “Link,” he repeats, a simulated strength in his voice. “Link, please wake up.”  
  
He closes his eyes for a few more seconds of baited breath until the radio fizzles in his hand. “Mm, yes?” a distant voice calls out.  
  
“Sorry for waking you,” Rhett says as he searches the horizon for Two Forks Lookout.  
  
“Yeah, it’s fine… It’s not like I was deep in REM sleep or anything,” Link jokes with only a hint of frustration in his voice. He waits for Rhett’s response, but when he doesn’t get it, Link speaks into the radio once more. “Rhett?”  
  
“I had another dream,” Rhett reveals. “A bad one. I mean, it wasn’t even bad objectively, but in the moment… it was terrifying. I was terrified.”  
  
A tiny light in the far distance flickers on and joins the rest of the stars in Rhett’s view. “Do you wanna talk about it?”  
  
“I was in my lookout again. I swear to God, no matter how hard I try, I can’t escape this dumb forest.” Rhett slouches as the details return to him. “But this time, it was just me. No you, no other rangers. Not even any animals. Just me and the echoes between the trees… The silence was overwhelming. It was all I could hear. It was like listening to something get louder and louder, except that something was nothing. And there was nowhere to hide. I was drowning in nothing, which sounds wimpy, but…”  
  
“No, I get it. That sounds horrible,” Link says. Link’s finger stays unmoving against his button (Rhett can hear the small static of Link’s tower), and Link keeps it there for an uncomfortable amount of time before asking, slowly, “Rhett, why did you really come out here? Out here in the Shoshone?”  
  
Unvisited, more painful images swim back into Rhett’s reach -- images of young boys with the same color eyes, images of relationships too shattered to mend. Rhett opts for the ambiguous answer. “I came out here for myself. I needed space to reevaluate my life, my desires. But something tells me I’ve overstayed my visit.”  
  
He hears the sad smile in Link’s voice when he asks, “Well, then, why don’t you leave?”  
  
Rhett leans against the wooden beam of his lookout and thinks. The truth already sits on the tip of his tongue, and Rhett finds no reason to keep it to himself. “Because of you,” Rhett replies.  
  
“Because of me?” Link sputters.  
  
“Yeah. You keep me sane, Charles.”  
  
Link snorts. “Don’t call me Charles.”  
  
“Whatever, Charlie.”  
  
Rhett is thankful the air has lifted, but he senses a heavier conversation waiting, but never, to be had. Long before Link showed up at the Shoshone, Rhett knew why he needed time to himself. He knew he was hurting his family, and unless he could come to terms with his identity, he would continue to hurt the people he loved.  
  
But now at 2:37 in the morning, Rhett finds himself more confused than ever. Out here, life follows a strict schedule with minimal interactions, and somehow that provides a completely renewed world of opportunity. The radio in Rhett’s hand is a magnet, drawing him closer to a wholly opposite yet ultimately attractive force. And it’s at 2:37 in the morning when Rhett thinks there can’t be anything more frightening out here in the wild.  
  
“Am I keeping you up? You can sleep now, I think I’ve talked myself out,” Rhett says, sheepish. In reality, he wants nothing more but to talk with Link for the rest of the night, for the rest of summer. But he figures he’s already said too much.  
  
“You sure? I think I still got a solid two and a half minutes left in listening time,” Link murmurs, making Rhett chuckle.  
  
“Nah, brother. Get some shut-eye. We’ll talk in the morning.”  
  
“Well, you better get some shut-eye, too. It’s as if you barely get any.”  
  
“Oh, I don't. But I'll try,” Rhett quips. He watches the light vanish into the night from miles away, and already, he feels himself retreat into the solitary confines of his bedsheets.  
  
“Okay. Good night, Rhett,” Link sighs into the radio.  
  
“Good night, Link.”


End file.
